NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity rovers entered their fifth year on Mars on January 03, marking a journey longer than anyone ever thought possible. The two rovers launched in 2004, and were initially supposed to complete a three-month mission; however, 5 years, 21 kilometers and quarter-million images later, they’re still fully operational.

 

The prolonged journey of the two rovers is incredible considering the weather conditions, as well as the risks of a component failure. But, as John Callas, JPL project manager for Spirit and Opportunity pointed out, the two rovers could also complete four more prime missions in 2009.

 

For those wondering about how the two missions managed to continue making discoveries over the past five years, Callas explained that the rovers’ solar panels benefited from occasional cleaning from the Martian wind, although that is not enough and might not get Spirit through another winter in the southern hemisphere.

 

NASA is planning on continuing the Mars mission by sending Spirit 183 meters (200 yards) further south of the site where it spent all of 2008, and by sending Opportunity to its next target, the Endeavour Crater, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) from Victoria Crater, where the rover spent the last two years.

 

Even though five years have passed, and the rovers could use a cleaning session, the scientists dare to dream further and push the mission further than they thought possible in the beginning.

 

Leaving aside all discoveries and observations returned by Spirit and Opportunity, their mission made history, giving hope for future Mars exploration, and space exploration in general.